Fifth seed Fahad Mohammed of Tamil Nadu outclassed Pune teenager Atharva Sharma 6-4, 6-2 in the singles final of the J S Pereira Memorial AITA Ranking mens tennis tournament here Saturday.
The 22-year-old Mohammed, who trains at the Just Tennis Academy in Chennai, was quite consistent with his serves and with clever change of tactics unsettled his 18-year -old opponent who did well to keep pace till 4-all in the first set.
Mohammed, after holding serve in the ninth game, forced Sharma into committing a couple of unforced errors to win the 10th game and to take the first set in a little less than 45 minutes.
The Chennai-based Mohammed was dominant in the second set and snatched a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. He broke Sharma's serve for the second time in the eighth game to win the set in 32 minutes and complete a satisfying victory.
Mohammed received the trophy and a cash award of Rs 26,000, while Sharma was presented with the runners-up trophy and a cash prize of Rs 18,000.
Mohammed and Sharma also earned 30 and 22 AITA ranking points, respectively.
Earlier in the doubles final, the top-seeded pair of Ishaque Eqbal of West Bengal and Yash Yadav of Madhya Pradesh easily defeated the unseeded combination of Shivam Dalmia from Delhi and Fahad Mohammed of Tamil Nadu as they breezed to a straight sets 6-1, 6-4 victory.
Results: Men's singles (final): 5-Mohammed Fahad (TN) bt Atharva Sharma (MH) 6-4, 6-2.
Men's doubles (final): Ishaque Eqbal (WB)/Yash Yadav (MP) bt Shivam Dalmia (DL)/Fahad Mohammed (TN) 6-1, 6-4.
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